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Introducing: Jail

Jail are a new hardcore band from West-Germany who recently premiered the first track of their Resurrection EP called ‘No Limit’. If you’re a fan of no-nonsense, NYHC style hardcore, then Jail is your cup of tea. Check the interview below with vocalist Björn Esser and make sure to pre-order your copy of Resurrection via Farewell Records.

Please introduce yourself and your band.

“My name is Björn, I am 35 years old, vegan SXE and I use the mic. We got Marc on bass, Robert and Messi on guitars and our youngster Timo (also in Giver) on drums. Jail is a straight-up hardcore punk band, influenced by mainly older NY and Boston bands. No bullshit, no gimmicks. Most of us are vegetarian or vegan, though.”

How did you come up with the band name, Jail?

“Actually Messi just came up with it before I had joined the band. Jail to means the constrictions of everyday life, the constriction of the mind, the limits we sometimes set ourselves, but should rise above.”

Define your sound in three words and elaborate on that.

“Cro-Mags, Killing Time and Black Friday ’29. The first two have had a certain impact on hardcore and from the outside we get compared to the last one quite often.”

Your new EP Resurrection will be released via Farewell Records on December 12th. What’s the story behind this release?

“Well, when Marc contacted me asking to join his band the songs had already been pre-recorded. I just had to throw in lyrics and my voice. I did that with the tracks on my laptop and got it ready for the studio. I had only met two of the Jail band members before I recorded the vocals, but I knew that we had a common approach to hardcore, so we did that. The lyrics were some older lyrics I had started writing in the past two years, two lyrics just came up right before hitting the studio. We also made our friends Lukas from Gone to waste and Nico from City To City feature us on two different tracks.”

Where do you hope this release will get Jail?

“We would like to play some shows, hit nice cities, get in touch with cool people and play our songs. I would also like to show that hardcore is still alive and kicking and doesn’t need the 20th beatdown clone or otherwise hype band without any message or standing. If we make people aware of things important to us, then we will be happy.”

When can we expect a European tour?

“We have already done a short European tour. Our first show ever took place in Toulouse (France) and then we played Badalona, Madrid and Paris. We will be playing three more shows this December. Leipzig and Budapest on the final Bane tour and Outspoken Fest with Deez Nuts in Oberhausen. We will get around mainly through weekend trips until a full tour might be done in March or July 2016.”